For most people, the word psychosis evokes images of permanent decline. A person with lived experience is imagined as someone whose future has been irreversibly damaged, whose mind can never be trusted again, and whose life will shrink to something small, unsteady, and disconnected. We are taught to believe that a psychotic episode destroys a person’s capacity to think clearly, work meaningfully, contribute to society, love deeply, or live fully.

But that narrative is at best incomplete — and at its worst simply untrue.

The reality is that recovery from psychosis is is very much possible for many and even when recovery is not possible, successful management can often be achieved. Many people return to careers, families, relationships, study, creativity, and leadership. Many quietly reclaim lives that are rich, meaningful, and deeply connected. We just don’t hear these stories often enough.

I once believed the dark psychosis narrative myself — until my own recovery from psychotic depression taught me something radically different.

When I experienced my first psychotic depressive episode, I felt certain my life as I knew it was over. I was a PhD graduate, a high-powered professional, an active mother of two, a friend, a potter, a thinker. I loved my life. I was proud of it and my........

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